Leave Pandora’s box closed

How you can benefit from open communication with homebuyers

‍“But won’t we open Pandora’s box when we communicate so often with homebuyers?” It’s a question we hear a lot at Ziggu when talking to residential developers about our platform. Developers are afraid that giving customers access to a clear communication channel will leave the door open for even more remarks. This fear isn’t necessary because the opposite is true.

Imagine you’re on a train. Suddenly, the train comes to a halt, but you’re not even close to a train station. So what’s the problem? You’ll probably look outside the window to see if something’s going on outside; maybe you’ll even get a little nervous. After all, you’re stuck on a train that’s come to a sudden halt, and you don’t know why. But then you hear the conductor over the intercom explaining that the train is waiting for another one to pass by, and it’ll only be another five minutes. You’re at ease again because you’ve been given an answer; you know what’s going on.

That’s all homebuyers want: to know what’s going on. When they’re kept in the dark, they’ll quickly start to feel a little anxious. They’ll raise questions. Questions you’ll need to answer left and right. Maybe they’re asking for a specific document, or they want to know something about the type of floor in their apartment, the budget for the kitchen. Your customer advisors team needs to look up a document for one homebuyer and a price-setting for another. This homebuyer wants to know how construction is going; another one is frustrated because he can’t find the plans for his bathroom you’ve sent them a few emails ago. We don’t need to tell you: this isn’t very efficient for your team, is it?

“The more efficiently you communicate, the easier it is to build your project”

Damien Janssens de Bisthoven
Real Estate Developer at Besix RED

Small versus big questions

When you centralize all communication, information, and documentation, you can organize the entire project from the customer service side way better. Legal documents, offers, invoices, brochures, and every other piece of information that could be interesting for the homebuyer, are all saved in one spot. When they have access to such a platform at any time, they can simply look it up themselves. In other words: people won’t have to call, text, or email you anymore for the smallest question or request.

Does this mean you never have to answer an email or Whatsapp message from a customer ever again? Not one single phone call? No, of course not. Some things can’t be answered beforehand or will need a little more explaining, like interior design questions, for example. The great news is: your customer advisors now have the time to actually advise homebuyers in these high-value questions because they don’t have to spend time on the little things anymore.

Higher satisfaction and more efficiency

BESIX RED’s real estate developer Damien Janssens de Bisthoven was afraid of the mythical Pandora’s box, too. But now? “Our digital platform gathers all questions, comments, and documents for and about our clients. This helps us save a lot of time managing questions, especially compared to before, when we were using our email inboxes”, he says. But there’s more: “We have learned that the more efficiently you communicate, the easier it is to build your project and, in the end, the higher the client satisfaction.”

Sharing information about the project – not just the necessary documents, but also how the building process is going or what the construction site looks like now, for example – is the key to keeping customers happy. It gives them some peace of mind. But communicating proactively and openly also makes it easier for your customer advisors team. They can work more efficiently and focus on what matters: helping customers when they need it most.

Would you like to learn more? We're looking forward to hearing from you. Contact us today.